Survival Indonesian. Katherine Davidsen
trilled as in Spanish. Rrrrrr. A tricky sound to learn.
The alphabet can be sung to the same tune as the English alphabet song:
Ah bé sé dé é éf gé
Ha ii jé ka él ém én
O pé ki érr éss té oo
Fé wé éks yé zét
The International Phonetic Alphabet is very useful where it is unclear whether the English or Indonesian alphabet is being used. Misspelt international airline tickets can cause a great deal of problems and stress, so make sure you always check spelling and name order. The concept of having a family name is a fairly recent development and the idea of surnames is quite unfamiliar to even some westernized Indonesians.
The following codes are used for Indonesian letters and numbers when given verbally (e.g. over a phone):
Alpha bravo Charlie delta echo foxtrot golf hotel India Juliet kilo London (the usual equivalent is Lima, but this means 5 in Indonesian) Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo sierra tango uniform victor whiskey x-ray Yankee Zulu
Numbers are said by putting the word angka (number) before the actual number. For example: IP32AF would be read
ii / péh / angka tiga / angka dua / ah / éff,
or
India / Papa / angka tiga / angka dua / alpha / foxtrot.
PART ONE
Essential Language Pointers
This is essential reading to get an overview before you begin trying out phrases.
Indonesian word order is basically the same as English but can be flexible, i.e. subject / verb / object.
| Saya | makan | nasi. |
| I | eat | rice. |
One key difference is that adjectives follow the noun, as in French, e.g.
| Saya | makan | nasi | putih.. | |
| I | eat | rice | white. | (= I eat white rice.) |
One great feature is that, unlike in English, you do not have to worry about tense, plural or gender. When these are shown, they are done so in other, more intuitive ways.
PRONOUNS
SINGULAR
| I | saya, aku (informally or to children) |
| you | usually not stated. You can use anda (a bit stilted) or the person’s name. Kamu is very familiar or for children. Engkau or kau is common in Sumatra. |
| he, she, it | dia |
PLURAL
| we | kita (including person being addressed), |
| kami (excluding person being addressed) | |
| you | kalian. This is a useful word which is neither distant or over-familiar. |
| they | meréka |
These can all be used as adjectives to create possessive pronouns, e.g.
buku saya my book buku kita our book
Sometimes these are abbreviated.
| bukunya | (from buku dia) his or her book, the book |
| bukumu | your (familiar) book |
| bukuku | my (familiar) book |
Sometimes pronouns are omitted in spoken Indonesian, especially when referring to other people, or if who you are referring to is clear from the context of the sentence.
NOUNS
These always come before any adjective describing them, except when counting.
| tas | bag |
| tas biru | blue bag |
| bis | bus |
| bis biru | blue bus |
| uang | money |
| tiga tas biru | three blue bags |
Many words with the affixes ke-an are nouns, often with a more abstract meaning.
uang money; keuangan finance
aman secure, safe; keamanvan security
Per-an is another affix denoting more abstract nouns.
tani farmer; pertanian agriculture
usaha trade, business; perusahaan company
ADJECTIVES
These always follow the noun (or verb) they describe. There is no clear distinction between adjectives and adverbs (which describe verbs).
| biru | blue |
| tas biru | blue bag |
| besar | big |
| tas besar | big bag |
| lama | long, slow, old (of time) |
| tas lama | old bag |
| baik | good, well (of people, situations) |
| tas bagus | good bag |
VERBS
Indonesian is very rich in action words or verbs. There are single words to describe an action using a number of English words, e.g.
| mengamuk | having a tantrum |
| mengupil | picking your nose |
Simple, common words include:
| makan | eat |
| minum | drink |
| datang | come |
| pergi | go |
| naik | ride on, go up |
| tidur | sleep |
More sophisticated meaning can be found in verbs beginning with meN- (where N- represents a variety of possible nasal-sounding endings). Such verbs may end in the suffix -kan (which may denote an object or doing something for someone) or -i (which may suggest repetition or an object which is human).
| mendatangkan | to import (i.e. to bring something to) |
| menaiki | to ride on (a vehicle) |
The meN- prefix changes according to the base word following it. You will learn these through experience rather than trying to memorize the rule.
| me- before l, m, n, r, w, y | melihat, memakan, |
| menaiki, merusakkan, | |
| mewarnai, meyakini | |
| mem- before b, f, v | membuka, memfokus, memvonis |
| men- before c, d, j | mencuci, mendaki, menjemur |
| meng- before all vowels (a e i o u), g, h | mengaku, menggigit, menghias |
| before k, meN- becomes | kawin → mengawinkan |
| meng (the k disappears) | |
| before p, meN- becomes | panas → memanaskan |
| mem (the p disappears) | |
| before s, meN- becomes | suka → menyukai |
| meny (the s disappears) | |
| before t, meN- becomes | tidur → menidurkan |
| men (the t disappears) |
There are a number of tense markers that behave like auxiliary verbs, which are very useful. They often show when something has happened or will happen.
| sudah, telah (more formal) | already |
| belum | not yet |
| tidak | not |
| bukan | not |